The Foreign Office said it is not aware of any Brits involved in the attack.

Most of the victims are thought to have been women who suffocated on smoke from the fires as desperate guests and gamblers clambered over each other to get to the exits in a rush to save their lives.

Explosions were also heard coming out of the building in what guests described as "two hours of panic" with some people said to be leaping from balconies to save themselves.

The man, who is thought to be a white “English speaker” with a moustache, raced into the second floor of the Resorts World Manila casino shortly after midnight and fired an assault rifle at betting machines and TV screens.

As terrified guests began screaming and running for their lives, the gunman pulled out a bottle of gasoline, poured it over gaming tables and set it ablaze.

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A casino worker from the third floor, named Julio, told DZMM radio he heard many gunshots and saw people running up the stairs from the second floor.

Ronald Romualdo, a maintenance worker at Resorts World, told the station he saw a woman fall from an upper floor while trying to escape.

He said: "Several people were injured."

Kara Verano, who took footage of people fleeing the hotel lobby, wrote on Facebook: "We were just eating at Bulgogi when we heard gunshots other customers said that there were men coming out of the casino wearing masks and armed.

"We got stuck in the restaurant's storage room for almost two hours with continuous gunshots coming from outside and smell something is burning.

"I wasn't sure if it was a teargas or something is actually burning... it was as if impossible to breakout."